The nature of children's thought processes has become an
increasingly salient issue in the study of the development of aggressive
behavior.Literature is reviewed
that suggests that social cognition plays a mediating role in the relationship
between early risk factors for aggression and subsequent social behavior.This study attempts to evaluate the relationship between social cognition
and aggression among high-risk low-income preschoolers, specifically
investigating the relationship between trait inference, attribution, social
problem solving skills and social perspective-taking skills, and classroom
aggression.Subjects in this study were 100 children enrolled in Head
Start preschools in San Diego County (50 boys, 50 girls, mean age 4.6 years).Subjects were individually presented with several vignettes in which
story characters committed ambiguous moral transgressions, either against the
subject or against a peer; transgressions presented varied, within-subjects, in
severity of outcome and in the degree to which they were intended.Subjects were asked to evaluate the severity of each act, why they
thought it had occurred, and the extent to which it was indicative of an
underlying trait of the actor. When ambiguous moral transgressions were
committed against the subject, children who were rated as highly aggressive by
their teachers (as measured on the Daycare Provider Form of the Achenbach Child
Behavior Checklist) consistently reported that acts were more severe and more
indicate of hostile intent on the part of the actor.Furthermore, children rated as highly aggressive by their teachers were
more likely than their peers to endorse aggressive behavior as an acceptable
solution to transgressions.Teacher
reports of aggressiveness also correlated with low child self-ratings of
competence in social situations, an inability to generate nonviolent solutions
to social problems, and an inability to take the perspective of another child.
These results suggest that the prevention of classroom behavior problems and the
development of prevention curricula may be augmented by a consideration of the
role of social cognition in aggressive behavior in preschool children.

OP-3.2.-Changes in school playground and aggressive
behaviour reduction

The high level of aggression between the children in the
school playground during recess time (Olweus, 1993; Whitney & Smith, 1993;
Pereira, 1997) raises doubts concerning its importance as time of freedom,
socialisation and formation. To check up how playground variation promotes or
reduces aggressive behaviour and a greater or lower victimisation level, four
types of playgrounds were tested in a primary school during four consecutive
weeks: empty playground, supervised playground, playground with materials,
playground with supervisor and materials. At the end of every week (on Friday)
children from 2º, 3º and 4º grade (n=112) answer an anonymous inquiry about
the conflicts they felt in the playground and their representations of every
type of playground. After the experience the children answer another anonymous
inquiry about their favourite playground and their representations of the
different playgrounds. The data collected after the empty playground week show
that many students participate in incidents during recess as aggressors, victims
or observers. Only about 50% of the victims tells the teacher about the
problems, they are afraid of retaliations. The data collected after every period
in a different space, show that the introduction of the supervisor in the
playground is important specially for the children that usually stay alone
during recess but the victimisation levels are very similar to the ones of the
empty playground week. Only in the playgrounds with materials (with or without
supervisor) the aggression and victimisation levels are significantly different
(lower) from the levels found in the empty playground. The children’s
representations of every playground are very positive, it’s important to refer
the weight that is given to “play with friends” (near 75%) and “play
different things” (41% to 53%). The highest values in these categories can be
found in playground with supervision and materials which is also the favourite
among most of the students (61%). The objects had a positive influence in the
student occupation and their union around common goals, games and plays, and the
active supervision makes the adult a precious helper in conflict, in learning
and organising situations.

OP-3.3.-Mindfulness project to develop stress
management skills in third and fourth grade students

Napoli, M.Arizona State University College of Public Programs, School of Social Work,
Tempe, Arizona, USA

The proposed project is
designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 25-week program that teaches third
and fourth grade students mindfulness techniques. Mindfulness is defined as the
student's ability to keep his/her attention in the present moment-to focus on
"what I am doing now?" The ability to focus, notice what is happening
at the moment without judgement can facilitate children’s’ ability to
respond rather than react to situations.Students will be taught the following mindfulness techniques: breathing
exercises, creative visualization, body movement, stretches, storytelling and
art. Building skills through mindful activities allow teachers and students to
utilize them in the classroom, a place where children spend the most active time
of their day. Results during the academic year 1996-7 of third and fifth grade
students respectively using these mindful techniques indicated that: (81%
&86%) enjoyed participating in the classes; (67% & 67%) enjoyed the
yoga; (48% & 70%) enjoyed the breathing exercises; (86% & 83%) enjoyed
the guided imagery; (62% & 63%) felt more relaxed after the classes; (52%
&41%) used some of the techniques at home; (90% &86%) would have liked
more classes and (86% &86%) would have liked the teacher to use some of the
exercises during the school year.Results
of the data received from September to December 1999 of the third and fourth
grade students respectively indicate that that the children used the skills
outside of the mindfulness classes. The students reported: (96%& 96%) used
the breathing techniques (69% & 81%) used the mindfulness skills and (81%
& 63%) used the yoga.The
number of times the third and fourth grade students used these skills during
that time were: sports(44&50);
emotional relaxation (20 & 22); physical relaxation (16 & 12); at home
(3 & 22); at school (11 &16); other mood stabilizer (1& 10); and
anger management (0 & 7). Due to the
decreasing availability of nurturing adults, children have turned to activities
like computer games and television for companionship, which often model violence
and aggression.It is the goal of
this project to have children who are well equipped to deal with daily stressors
in school and in the home. The proposed pilot project lays foundations for a
viable, long-term research project.

School of Special Education and Disability Studies,
Flinders University of South Australia,

Adelaide,
South Australia

Because males have been considered the more aggressive
sex, interventions have been mainly concerned with male aggression. Over the
past dozen years, however, a form of aggression more typical of girls has been
identified and described. This aggression has been termed indirect and typical
examples include spreading rumours about others and exclusion from the peer
group. Previous research has concluded that girls indulge in indirect aggression
because of the nature of their friendship groups - membership of the group and
close personal relationships are vitally important to girls so indirect or
social forms of aggression are particularly effective in hurting or harming
peers. Previous research, too, has shown that indirect aggression is very
painful to the girl victims. Yet unlike the typical male forms of direct
aggression, there has been very little research into how to prevent or intervene
to reduce indirect aggression among girls. In an earlier study, the author found
that teenage girls were sceptical about existing school based interventions.
Speculations can be made about the types of interventions that may be
successful, drawing upon a range of possible approaches from the existing
literature on more overt forms of aggression, including bullying. These include
whole school approaches, the no blame approach, the method of shared concern,
peer counselling, peer mediation, and systems thinking. The last of these is a
rejection of traditional individual approaches in psychology and education which
seek to identify an aggressor or victim and remediate deficits in, for example,
thinking patterns or social skills. Instead, the indirect aggression
"problem" is seen to reside within relationships and interactions
within the whole school or community system and requires overarching systemic
responses. Interventions need to take account of the explanations for indirect
aggression and in particular the nature of teenage girls' friendship groups.
Paradoxically, the group and friendship processes which are the context for
girls' indirect aggression may also be a source of strength to girls in
resolving their conflicts.